Stingers Tame Sea Bears with 97-68 Victory

After a successful road trip, the Winnipeg Sea Bears fell to the Edmonton Stingers at home Monday evening. The team celebrated Philippine Independence Day in front of a sold-out crowd.

The Stingers improve to 2-3 to begin the season, while the Sea Bears have their winning streak snapped and fall to 4-2.

Teddy Allen continued to stuff the stat sheet for the Sea Bears in a losing effort. He scored 27 points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots but committed six turnovers. Jelani Watson-Gayle came off the bench to contribute 16 points on 7-16 shooting, while E.J. Anosike finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Winnipeg’s offence faltered in their return home. They went 25-65 from the field, shot 20 per cent from long range, 63 per cent from the line and turned the ball over 20 times.

“We talked about making sure we stayed hungry, coming home and not relaxing — being uncomfortable, not being satisfied. Unfortunately, that's kind of the way we came out today,” Winnipeg head coach Mike Taylor said. “We didn't have the same defensive intensity – we didn't impact the ball like we needed to against these guys. We were just a step late in transition and a step late in our rotations on defence.”

Edmonton dominated on both ends in the decisive win, shooting 53 per cent as a team and holding Winnipeg to 38 per cent from the field and 20 per cent from three. The Stingers also had 26 assists as a squad on 37 field goals made.

“We were able to establish an early lead and set the tone for what we wanted to do for the rest of the game,” Edmonton head coach Jordan Baker said. “Then, obviously, an 11-point fourth quarter was really going to set you up for success.”

Brody Clarke, Isaiah Osborne and Nick Hornsby paced an Edmonton offence that has struggled in stretches to start the season. Clarke and Osborne each scored a team-high 21 points, combining for all 11 of the Stingers’ points in target score time. Clarke was ultra-efficient at 6-8 from the field, 3-4 from three and 6-6 from the free throw line while grabbing eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Hornsby notched 18 points, five rebounds and six assists in the victory.

“We're starting to understand each other better and we're starting to get a better flow that we work on every day,” Hornsby said. “Just the motion that we have and communicating with each other helps a lot.”

The first quarter saw the Stingers jump out to an ideal start offensively. Clarke connected on a triple to get Edmonton on the board and opened the floodgates. The Stingers hit 63 per cent of their shots in the opening 10 minutes on their way to 29 points. On the other end, Allen was hot to start the game as well. The Sea Bears’ star was 5-5 from the field to start the game, and an and-one step through made it a one-possession game late in the quarter. However, back-to-back Stingers’ threes gave them a 29-21 lead heading into the second quarter.

In the second, the Stingers continued a sizzling stretch from long range. Coming out of a timeout, Edmonton hit three consecutive triples to take their largest lead of the night at 19 points. Winnipeg stayed vigilant, however, and a 7-0 run to end the quarter cut the deficit to 50-38 heading into the locker room.

Edmonton shot 54 per cent from the field in the first half and connected on 10 threes at a 48 per cent rate. The Stingers were also unselfish with the basketball and assisted on 16 of their 20 field goals in the opening 20 minutes.

Winnipeg traded runs with Edmonton throughout the third quarter. Every time the Sea Bears would inch closer, the Stingers would respond. Edmonton carried a 72-57 lead into the fourth and final frame.

The Stingers came out in the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run, with the Sea Bears going scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter. Allen ended the drought with a pair of free throws, but the Sea Bears trailed 86-62 heading into target score time.

Clarke drilled a three and spun for a layup to start target time for Edmonton. The deficit was too much for Winnipeg, and Osborne closed out the game with an and-one and a game-winning triple.

Winnipeg will be back in action Thursday at 7 p.m. CT. as they seek revenge against the Brampton Honey Badgers. For tickets, visit seabears.ca/tickets.

All games are also available for streaming on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.

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